Maharashtra: Std XII exams cancelled; focus shifts to degree admissions

Confusion over marks and exams seems to be a neverending one and this time questions have been raised on how the admission process for degree courses would be done As the CBSE ICSE and state boards have cancelled the Std XII exams the question now is how would students take admission for degree courses as until now it was based on the Std XII resultsWhile students can sit for entrance exams for admission to professional courses such as engineering medicine law architecture nursing among all the same for traditional degree courses BA BCom and BSc is completely dependent on the Std XII exam resultsIt was inevitableAnushree Kamat a parent from Vile Parle said ldquoThe decision of cancelling the exams was inevitable considering the situation But we need to know what happens to the degree admissions now Until there is some clarity on it the relief is not really completerdquoKunal Vohra a student said ldquoThe Std XII results are very important for further admissions We are anxious to know how the results will be calculatedrdquo Adding to this another student Chinmay Punde said ldquoIf the formula is again going to be based on internal assessment of students then the situation is equally problematic as in the case of Std X results because the digital divide has not given a fair chance to allrdquo Commenting on the decision Parveen Shaikh principal The Somaiya School said ldquoThis news was expected All the stakeholders were waiting for the official announcement Since the stakes are higher in case of the Std XII exams the question will be how the marks will be calculated and how students will be guided to apply for professional courses Clear guidelines at the earliest will be helpful and reduce anxiety among students and parentsrdquoAlso Read New day brings new questions Maharashtra batted for no exams in meeting with CentreAdding to this Dr Madhu Singh principal of Billabong International School Malad said ldquoIt would have been a very challenging situation if the exam was conducted The decision is in the larger interest of the wellbeing of students and it will also prevent schools from turning into hotspots We look forward to the government directives on college admissions and how these assessments will be done for competitive exams Once we have these details we can accordingly sensitise and guide our parents and students on the next stepsrdquoAnother college principal said ldquoThere has to be a fairplay for admissions If there is going to be a huge divide in the way each board evaluates Std XII students then for regular degree admissions too there might be a need for a Common Entrance Testrdquo ldquoCancelling the exam is not an answer actually They had an entire year to work on an alternative evaluation pattern considering the pandemic But now we hope that students donrsquot have to wait for another month to know how the HSC results will be declaredrdquo said Siddharth Ingle president of Maharashtra Students Union adding that it was high time all education ministries mdash school higher and technical and medical work in tandem to avoid any confusionFair admission processEven as most believe that cancellation of the exam was inevitable educationists are of the opinion that a fair admission process should be conducted for degree admissionsDr T A Shivare chairman of Association of NonGovernment Colleges said ldquoTraditional degree courses are less likely to have any problem as mostly those are based on inhouse processes For BA BCom and BSc degree colleges have their own Std XII students from junior colleges But it is the selffinanced courses for which admissions should be fair Universities are considering the Common Entrance Test CET for admission to these coursesrdquoHe further said ldquoEach university should have its own CET as these courses are very different from each other Colleges affiliated to Mumbai University have BMM but those affiliated to Pune University do notrdquo A university official said ldquoHolding CET for admissions to degree courses is under considerationrdquoVasant Kalpande senior educationist and former chairperson of the Maharashtra State Board said ldquoBarring few popular colleges in urban areas there is no cut throat competition for seats in degree courses as most admissions to professional courses are based on CET and traditional courses already have their own students It will be important to see how the evaluation for HSC results is donerdquo